Stress could make allergies worse

Want to keep allergies from driving you crazy in the months ahead? It could help if you try to lower your stress levels, according to a new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Feeling stressed may help worsen allergy symptoms, researchers concluded. And reducing stress, they said, may decrease the intensity of runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing.

The scientists analyzed 179 participants over a 12-week period. During that time, 39 percent of the study participants had an allergy flare-up. The researchers found that the group with allergy flare-ups had higher stress levels. The flare-ups tended to appear day or two after a high-stress period.

To help lower stress, the researchers recommended meditation, deep breathing and other coping mechanisms that do not involve caffeine or alcohol.

Most people use antibacterial soap incorrectly

We’re using antibacterial soaps much more often these days. But it may not be doing much good because, according to a study at Arizona State University, most people aren’t using these soaps correctly. In fact, concludes the research published in Environmental Science & Technology, the increased use of the soaps may help microbes become more resistant to antibiotics.

Antibacterial products contain the ingredients triclosan and triclocarban. The researchers noted that more than 2,000 products now have these ingredients, including soaps, detergents, clothing, toothpastes and pacifiers.

Though these antibacterial products have been effective in hospital settings at killing microorganisms, as well as in toothpaste to fight gum disease, there is little evidence to suggest that they are more beneficial than regular soap for the general population. This may be in part, because people do not use the products correctly. To kill microbes, people need to wash their hands with the antibacterial products for 20 to 30 seconds, but studies show people use the soaps for only six seconds on average.

Some studies have suggested that triclosan and triclocarban can alter hormones in animals. The researchers in the Arizona State study suggested that more regulation of the use of these products may be necessary in the future.

Study says popular teens also bullied

Bullying affects kids of all social circles, even popular ones. So concludes a study published in the American SociologicalReview.

Researchers found the risk for bullying increases as kids get more popular. But the bullying abruptly stops when they reach the top of the social ladder_._

In the study, 4,000 adolescents in from eighth to tenth grade in 19 schools in three North Carolina counties were analyzed. The participants answered several different questions about their friends and bullying. This information helped the researchers to map out the social circles of each school.

The results showed a higher social status meant an increased risk of victimizations, harmful psychological, social and academic consequences, and anxiety, anger and depression. The researchers said these feelings are due to the belief that popular students have much more to lose than students who are unpopular.